Behind the Curtain
by Little Myy
Summary: AU. Rei had always known about Max’s dream to join a circus, he just never expected to be dragged along. KaiRei, BorisYuriy. Part of KaRe wave.
1. Welcome to the Circus

Summary: AU. Rei had always known about Max's dream to join a circus, he just never expected to be dragged along. Part of KaRe wave.

Pairings: KaiRei, BorisYuriy, maybe others.

Warnings: Alternative universe. Shounen-ai, slash, or whatever you want to call it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, poor me.

Behind the Curtain

Chapter One: Welcome to the Circus  
_By: LittleMyy_

The day had started as any other day in Rei's life. He would wake up, take a shower, get dressed, make breakfast and argue with his father. Accusations and insults were yelled in both directions and finally it would be Rei, always Rei, to back out and leave the house.

It had been like that ever since Rei's mother had died in a car accident. Rei's father, Kon Jiao-Long, had been driving the car when it happened and felt guilty about it. Like it hadn't been enough to lose his wife, the accident had taken away his career as well. Jiao-Long had been world known gymnastic, but after his leg was injured he had to retire. Not wanting to give up the gymnastics just yet he had turned his expectations to his son. Rei had been too young to have his own opinion about it, but when he was old enough he got fed up with the whole sport and refused to train or to compete. Of course it had strained their relationship even more, which led to daily arguments. Neither were willing to give up, they were too stubborn for it.

So like always after their morning fight Rei would end up watching the sea from the highest point of the old docks. He would enjoy the feel of the breeze on his face, the smell of the sea and listen how the waves that hit the pier ever so often. This was his spot, the place he came to sort his thought and calm down before heading to school. However today was one of those lucky days that he didn't have school to leave to, so instead of starting his run back to the town, he kept gazing around the peaceful surroundings. Even though during the night time Rei was quite sure the docks were in heavy use, in the mornings he could have it all to himself.

Well, almost at least. In the distance Rei could easily see a form coming quite fast towards him. From the place where he was sitting it was easy to see when someone entered the area. This particualr visitor was riding a bike, easily dodging every abandoned barrel and bar left to the ground. There was only one person Rei knew that would come here at this time of day and use as bright colored clothes as the newcomer.

"Big news! Big news!" He could hear the biker yell from quite a distance. Smiling to himself Rei decided to make his way down to meet his friend. Max had never been one to love heights the same way as Rei.

Jumping gracefully down, using the support of everything else except the real ladders, Rei landed on the ground exactly the same time as the blond haired biker made a sudden stop in front of him.

"Rei! I knew I would find you here!" Max greeted glomping the other boy as soon as he got off his bike. "I have some great news!"

"So I heard," Rei smiled slightly at his friend's enthusiasm. He waited to be freed from the hug before continuing. "So what's so exciting that you're actually up at this time on Saturday?"

"But today isn't just any Saturday. Today is the day my dream will come true," Max declared and Rei could almost imagine the stars in his eyes, as the blond gazed to the distance.

"And the knight in shiny armor will come and sweep you off your feet and you'll ride into the sunset?" Rei asked sarcastically, but smiled nonetheless at the other's actions. "Seriously Max you sound like a Disney character."

"Even better than Disney, I got these," Max declared putting his hand into his pocket and pulling out two slips of paper. "This is my way to success."

Rei moved to take a closer look and now noticed that they were some sort of tickets. "Glorious Night?" He asked slight puzzled how this had anything to do with Max's dream.

"Circus Glorious Night," Max jumped to explain. "I tried to get these tickets months ago, but I was too slow and missed them. Luckily one of my father's regular customers had these tickets, but something came up and he gave these to me. Can you believe it! Now I can actually go see them, before trying to get myself recruited."

"What? You're joking, right?" Rei asked in disbelief. Sure he had always know that Max wanted to join the circus, but for the blond to actually go through with it was still a surprise. Rei had always thought of it more like a kid's dream than an actual career choice. Heck, Max was only sixteen and while he had gone to circus school for most of his life, it still felt impossible for someone to be so sure. On the same time Rei had to admit that he was slightly jealous for the determination that Max seemed to posses.

"Of course not. This might be the only chance I get, I'm going to regret it if I don't at least try," Max said becoming serious. "You understand that don't you?"

Rei wasn't too sure if he did, but agreed nonetheless with a nod. Feeling stupid for sulking without a real reason, Rei smiled deciding to be happy for his friend. "So when's the show?"

"Tonight," Max said brightening up considerably now that Rei seemed to be supporting him. "And you're coming with me, right."

"Sure," Rei agreed with a smile of his own. "After all, I want to see your future workplace."

The rest of the day Rei spent his time listening Max telling him random facts about the circus they were going to see. Apparently it was made from a considerably small group of people from some big and famous circus. They had formed their own little show and had been traveling around for couple of years now making their own name.

To say that the blond was excited would be understatement, Max was more like ecstatic about the fact that he got to see them. On the same time he seemed to be nervous how to go and ask if they would give him a chance to join. Rei couldn't do anything except nod and try to encourage his friend. Truth to be told, he wasn't even sure what he was really thinking about Max's plan. Of course it would be great for his friend to finally go and live his dream. On the same time Rei couldn't help but feel a bit selfish for hoping that Max wouldn't make it. He knew Max had the talent so it was quite possible that they would let the blond join, however he didn't want to lose his only friend to some group they knew nothing about. It didn't only mean that Max would leave the town, it also meant that Max would leave him for complete strangers. The feeling aggravated Rei to no end. Still he kept smiling and asking nonchalant questions for Max's sake.

Finally after wondering around the town for the whole day, the beginning of the show started to draw near. Rei gave his father a quick call informing he would be out late. Even though their relationship wasn't always peachy, Rei knew his father cared and didn't want him to worry for nothing. Max's father was kind enough to give them a ride to the arena where the circus would be. Rei could help but laugh a little as Max couldn't stay still for the ride and was jumping up and down in his seat. When they got stuck by traffic the blond had had enough of waiting and jumped out of the car dragging Rei out as well. They weren't that far from the arena and it was obvious that Max couldn't stand sitting any longer. Bidding Mr. Mizuhara goodbye they left the car in the traffic jam and ran the rest of the way.

"You know, I always thought circus was supposed to be a grand tent and all that," Rei stated as they waited to get into the arena. The arena was kind of small, but the town wasn't too big itself and they really didn't need any bigger. However it also meant it would be packed full if the lines where anything to go with.

"That's too old fashioned," Max said with a smile. "Besides this isn't an ordinary circus anyway. None of that bearded lady stuff. Not even any animals involved. Just the art."

"Well, let's see how good they are," Rei replied as the line slowly continued to move forward. To their genuine surprise they got in sooner than they thought. However the suspicions that the place was absolutely full was true. There were still good amount of time for the show to start so people were still wandering around the hallways instead of getting themselves seated. Dodging people they tried to get to their places through the masses. It took them longer than expected to reach their row. It was quite high, close to the ceiling, giving them good view to the stage as well as they didn't need to wring their necks to see the acts that were going to be performed higher.

The stage was quite bare with only two doorframes and a bed in the middle. From the ceiling there were hanging three large chandeliers. At the far right corner of the stage there was place for the small orchestra, where there seemed to be people preparing for the show.

Even Rei had to admit he was getting excited as he watched the people start to get into their seats. Max was fidgeting next to him trying to get everything in. Neither of them knew exactly what to expect.

Then after what had felt like hours of waiting in their seats, but was only fifteen minutes really, the light went out and the stage was illuminated. Music started and through from the back of the stage there walked a person with a mask, dressed in blue suit with odd patterns on it. He walked through the other doorway and stopped to stand in front of the bed. He turned his head around to look at the audience, before speaking through the music.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Let me welcome you to Circus Glorious Nights!"

A woman started to sing.


	2. Juggling Through

Summary: AU. Rei had always known about Max's dream to join a circus, he just never expected to be dragged along. Part of KaRe wave.

Pairings: KaiRei, BorisYuriy, maybe others.

Warnings: Alternative universe. Shounen-ai, slash, or whatever you want to call it.

Disclaimer: Still not owning.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and here's the new chapter (a bit late, but still here).

Behind the Curtain

Chapter Two: Juggling Through

_By: Little Myy_

Max was in heaven. When he had woken up that morning, he had had the feeling it would be a great day, but now it was close to magnificent. After all, it wasn't everyday that a great circus visited the town. He was just excited to get the chance to go see it, and for what it was worth try and pursuit his dream to join the stage.

It had been clear who he would ask to join him to the show. While Rei didn't share his enthusiasm with circus, Max was sure his friend would enjoy it. Besides it was hard to top Max's eagerness, as circus was his dream after all. It had been as long as he remembered, and because of that he had had it as a hobby pretty much his whole life. Still, Rei understood him in some kind of level, after all while Rei didn't compete anymore, Max knew that gymnastics and all that was close to his heart, even if Rei denied it.

And the show… the show was absolutely amazing; the costumes and lights and effects, not to mention the stunning performances. He had been on the edge of his seat the whole time. The only thing that could have Max even more giddy – if that was possible – would have been if he, or even Rei, had been called to the stage to assist. However they did have a bit bad seats for that. Still, the next best thing was the blue top hat that Max had received after the short interval. The same man, who had welcomed them in the beginning, had circled among the audience doing some quite impressive tricks before letting the next number start. At some point he had even wondered where Max and Rei were sitting and Max had ended up with the man's newly found top hat on his head. The performer hadn't even taken it back, which was quite surprising, but had made the evening even more perfect. While Max would be glad to keep the thing as a memento, it was also a perfect excuse to make his next move. He couldn't help but smile a little wickedly.

"What do you think?" he asked Rei as they waited for the audience to slowly leave the hall. There was no need for them to hurry, when the corridors would be too cramped to move in.

"It was impressive," his friend agreed with a small smile. "Not quite what I was expecting."

"I told you so," Max stated smugly. "So, think I have a chance getting recruited?"

"You don't even know, if they need any new personnel," Rei pointed out, being the somewhat more realistic one. "But if they do, I think you definitely have a chance."

"Thanks."

The blond couldn't help but to smile brightly at that. Somehow Rei's support was the most important thing to him. He didn't even care that much about his parents' thoughts; of course it helped that they were okay with what he was doing. It meant a lot that Rei was actually encouraging him, even if his black-haired friend wasn't hundred percent behind him. Max had quickly after meeting Rei learned that the youth was wary about anything and everything. Still, Rei was ready to humour him and encourage him to pursuit his dream.

"We should get going," Max pointed out as the hall was almost empty already. They made their way through the corridors that were still quite full.

"So do you have a plan?" Rei asked as they continued their walk towards the exit.

"Of course," the blond smiled mischievously, "After all, I do have a thinking hat." He explained spinning the hat in his hands. This earned him a chuckle from his friend.

"So all we need is a backdoor."

"Exactly,"

It wasn't that hard to find a backdoor. They got out of the building and just went to the back, where there happened to be another entrance. Now the only problem was how to get in. There wasn't anybody around and of course the door was locked. Hoping for the best, they decided to wait for a while. Max could see Rei getting sceptical about his great plan, but the blond was determinant to get what he wanted. Beside, it was his lucky day, nothing could go wrong.

And as true as it was, the door finally opened and laughter was heard from the person coming out. "Oh relax," the male spoke, "You might feel like a superstar, but I can perfectly well go out to have a bit fresh air without getting attacked by fans or anything else."

Max watched as the newcomer shut the door, muttering something about paranoia. He was slightly taller than Max, probably older as well, with dark blue hair in a low ponytail. It was impossible to say who the person had been in the show, hair colour could be deceiving, and the costume and makeup were removed. Now he was just dressed in simple jeans and a t-shirt. It was also possible that the male hadn't even been a performer in the first place.

The person turned around and noticed Max and Rei standing. "Wow, maybe I do have fans after all," he said with a smile.

"Not sure if I'm a fan of yours, but the show was good," Rei replied.

"Good? It was amazing!" Max exclaimed. He was feeling slightly unreal in this situation. Before it had been just wistful thinking, but now… now he could get his chance.

"Thanks," the guy answered with a bright smile. Then he seemed to notice something, and grinned even more. "I see you still have my hat."

Max glanced at the blue top hat in his hands in surprise.

"You were the announcer?" he asked shocked. Now that he thought about it the voice did sound similar, but the way that he talked had been different.

"Yep, that was me," the performer confirmed and extended his hand. "I'm Takao."

"Mizuhara Max," the blond introduced shaking the hand. "And this is my friend Kon Rei."

"Nice to meet you," Rei nodded to Takao in acknowledgement.

"So, anything I can help you with?" Takao asked. "And you can keep the hat if you want to."

"Thanks," Max replied, putting the hat on his head beaming. "But I was more thinking about joining you."

Strait to the point. No need to beat around the bush, otherwise he could lost the chance, and Max wasn't going to let that happen. He noticed the surprised looks that both Rei and Takao were giving him.

"What he means to ask, is if you needed any new recruits," Rei tried to smooth the bluntness of Max's words.

"You want to join us?" Takao repeated, and after he received a confirming nod from Max, the shock was replaced with a smile. "That's great! What can you do?"

"A bit this and that," Max answered straight away. "I've gone to circus school, well not school school, but a place where they teach that stuff. But I guess my specialty is bikes. Rei on the other hand is great acrobat."

"Max I –" Rei started to say, but was cut off by Takao.

"Cool! Can you show me something?"

"I didn't bring my bike with me," Max muttered trying to look around to see what he could use to demonstrate his skills.

"But you juggle, right?" Takao asked the enthusiasm never leaving his voice.

"Yeah, sure," Max agreed and before he could continue there were a wallet and keys thrown towards him. Being proud of his reflexes, Max caught them and smiled slightly at the idea. He searched for his own wallet and keys, before he started juggling. It wasn't the greatest performance, as he just did things as they popped in his mind, trying to show off his tricks. He even asked for Rei's stuff so he could show he could do it with more than four objects.

Then Takao suggested that the two of them should juggle together, so Max started to pass the keys and wallets to him. As they fell into a simple routine Takao started to increase the distance and do some tricks, encouraging Max to do the same. He mimicked Takao's moves trying to stay concentrated on the juggling so he wouldn't mess up. It wouldn't look good if he screwed up now.

Max thought he did quite well, until the door was opened behind him, nearly knocking him down. He hadn't even noticed that they had been moving around so he was standing in front of the back entrance. It was quite cruel awakening to have a door slammed on his back. He managed to catch the objects still in the air coming towards him, but stopped at that. Apparently Takao had thought the same as he also stopped.

"Sorry," the male voice spoke, not sounding too apologetic and continued without a beat. "Kinomiya, Kai wants a word."

Max glanced behind him to see the person at the door. He was at Rei's height, maybe taller and had a bright red hair. He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and black well fitted cargo pants. Also, he seemed to be utterly bored.

"I'll be there in a moment," Takao replied, but the redhead didn't move. "I'm sure it can wait five minutes."

The redhead finally looked at Max, who was still standing close to the door, slightly puzzled what he should do, and Rei, who had sat down on the concrete to watch the juggling. He gave a last glance towards Takao, before turning around and letting the door shut behind him.

"Sorry, I need to go," Takao apologized walking next to Max with a small smile. "But about that joining. Come back tomorrow around noon, and I'll see what I can do."

"Really?" Max asked not believing his luck.

"Yeah," Takao agreed grinning back. "Bring that bike of yours with you."

"You're the best!" Max exclaimed jumping to hug Takao without a second thought. "You are not going to regret this!"

"Of course I won't," the youth hugged laughed a little as he hugged back. As the hug ended the keys and wallets were given to the rightful owners.

"So we'll see tomorrow," Takao spoke as he opened the door. "Can't wait to see the rest of your tricks, as well as Rei's."

Luckily Max was standing right next to Rei and managed to cover his friend's mouth before any disagreement left Rei's mouth. He could feel Rei glaring at him, but couldn't help but beam as he waved Takao goodbye. When the door closed Max finally released his hold on Rei.

"Looks like we have an audition tomorrow," Max commented to Rei.

"I can't believe you dragged me into this," Rei muttered sourly. "I was supposed to be just the support guy, not a partner in crime."

"If you don't want to join, of course you don't have to, but it would be great if you'd at least come with me tomorrow," the blond explained little sad that his friend was angry with him. He tried to do the best puppy dog eyes that he could manage towards Rei.

They stared at each other for a moment, before Rei finally let out a resigning sigh.

"Fine, but only for the support," he agreed before starting to walk away towards the bus stop. Max couldn't help the smile that had been blasted on his face for the whole day, as he followed his friend with a bounce in his steps.


	3. Tightrope Walking

Summary: AU. Rei had always known about Max's dream to join a circus, he just never expected to be dragged along. Part of KaRe wave.

Pairings: KaiRei, BorisYuriy, maybe others.

Warnings: Alternative universe. Shounen-ai, slash, or whatever you want to call it.

Disclaimer: Ask me again when you find some hot boy on boy action from the show.

A/N: This is rubbish… try and bear with me.

* * *

Behind the Curtain

Chapter Three: Tightrope Walking

_By: Little Myy  
_

"Well, you took your sweet time."

Takao glanced at Yuriy, who leaning against the hallway wall waiting for him. The back corridor they were currently standing in was surprisingly empty. Normally after a show everything would be hectic with everyone running around from dressing room to another and back. Maybe he had been out a little bit longer than he thought. It wouldn't be surprise really. He had had so much fun juggling with Max it would be understandable that enough time would have passed for them to leave.

"There's no need for you to be snippy about," Takao shot back, although not quite as acidly as the redhead had spoken. "No one made you wait for me."

Actually Takao knew quite well why Yuriy was waiting for him, instead of going back to the dressing room. It was quite usual to see the trapeze artist seeking the quietest place around. While everyone did a great job with the others on stage, off the set there were frequently times that someone had to step in between the biting words thrown from one to another, often Yuriy being on one of the ends. Sometimes Takao wondered how it was possible that while performing up in the air they could have that absolute trust, but as soon as their feet touched the ground it was all forgotten.

"Did the blond steal your brain?" the redhead spoke, waking Takao from his stupor.

"Huh?"

"Kai," Yuriy stated ushering him to remember why he had gotten inside in the first place instead of continuing his great encounter with Max.

"Oh, right," Takao agreed, rubbing his neck slightly sheepishly. "On my way."

He started to walk down the corridor, before realizing something rather important. He turned around. "Umm… Where again?"

The redhead gave him the annoying smug smirk of his, before answering. "The third door to the right."

"Right. Thanks."

Takao started to walk to the newly informed direction, leaving Yuriy to do what ever it was he was going to do now. He passed the dressing rooms filled with people, exchanging nods and thumbs up for the successful performance. Times like these Takao remembered why he loved working in a circus. The feeling of euphoria was worth it. While this hadn't been the path he had dreamed while little, he was glad he had ended up in here from all places. This was all he had and it was everything he wanted. Well almost at least.

The third door on the right was the first one to be closed. All the others were fully open, for everyone to enter and yell to the others. Obviously Kai didn't want everyone stopping by.

Feeling polite, Takao knocked the door before entering.

"Well, you took your time," Boris commented from his seat at the sofa from the corner of the room.

"You spend too much time with Yuriy, you know," Takao muttered before checking who else were in the room. Olivier was sitting next to Boris writing heatedly on his notepad. He noticed Rai sitting on one of the office chairs, looking quite impassive, while Kai was behind the desk on the other side of the room. He was reading some paper ignoring his surroundings as he usually did.

"So you wanted to see me?" Takao continued to speak as obviously no one else was going to say anything.

"Just some brainstorming," Rai stated from where he was sitting "We need to get the wheels turning as soon as possible."

Takao sighed and sat down to the office chair closest to him. Way to ruin the perfect night. "So I guess the letter finally arrived. How long do we have?"

Finally Kai seemed to stop reading the paper, which was probably the said letter. The red eyes looked up from the writing. "Little less than three months."

"He really does want to get rid of us, doesn't he?" Takao stated, not really expecting an answer. They all knew this day would come soon and it would take everything for them to make through it, but three months to prepare a brand new show? They needed a concept, outfits, choreographies, music and time to actually rehearse the whole show. If they didn't manage it… well, bye-bye circus. Sometimes life could be really unfair.

"I have some ideas in stock and I'm sure I can come up with a perfect one for the setting," Olivier spoke for the first time, finally stopping his writing. "I need to discuss some of the details with Giancarlo, but I'm sure we get something fixed quite quickly."

"Good," Kai stated making some of his own notes. "Who will plan the acrobatics choreography?"

"What do you mean?" Takao asked, surprised that there would be a problem. "I thought that Julia did that."

"She decided to take over the aerial hoops," Olivier informed, again scribbling away with pen.

"Great, just what we needed. People jumping around taking others' jobs," Rai muttered bitterly. In any other case it wouldn't be that bad, but with a critical situation like this it was problematic.

"I'm sure if we ask, she'll do it anyway," Takao reasoned.

"Don't bother, I'll cover her," Boris spoke in. "I was getting bored with the routines anyway."

"What about the trapeze then?" Olivier was the first to ask.

"I'm sure Yuriy can handle it."

As soon as the words left the lavender haired man's mouth Takao knew what would come; yelling and arguing and insults. He wasn't far off as Rai was the first to disagree.

"You are not letting him do that!" the Chinese man argued.

"Why not?" Boris questioned impassively. "He's perfectly capable of handling it."

"You sure about that?" Rai asked fuming. "Since when has he done anything like that? He hasn't been for even a year and already you're letting him take over. Mao could as well take over."

"Mao has her own performance to deal with," Kai pointed out massaging his temple with his fingers already. After this meeting they would all have headaches. Luckily they all had a massive packages of painkillers in their possession. They wouldn't even need an injury for popping pills like candies. Sometimes it was enough for just couple of carefully chosen words.

"Also if I do remember correctly Yuriy did do half of the job for the last act as well," Olivier commented.

"Are you saying you're okay with this?" Rai turned towards the green-haired man.

"I'm saying that we don't have much of a choice," the French countered. "And he can do the job, our personal opinions about him to the side. We all will be having our hands full, let him take his burden from the pile."

"Besides it's not our fault he has better imagination than your family does," Boris stated offhandedly, intentionally aggravating the other man. It was well known that the lavender headed man knew how to push people's buttons and he wasn't afraid to do so. And Takao had noted that even less so, when Yuriy was somehow involved. This time wasn't any different and Rai was close to his losing point.

"Well now that all is settled," Kai spoke sarcastically; they all knew they were far of from reaching an agreement. "Get lost."

Rai was the first one to storm out of the door and Boris soon followed lazily behind with a satisfied smirk on his face. He was making his leave, when Takao finally remembered what he was supposed to speak to Kai about, before the whole letter thing came up. He turned to the really annoyed looking man.

"By the way, I promised a couple of my friends that they could have an audition for joining our circus."

The death glare that Kai threw at his direction was quite chilling. Luckily Takao had been on the receiving end for couple of years now so that he didn't run out of the room right away.

"Hey, we need the personnel right? Beside if the next show fails, it's not like they'll be on your problem anymore," he continued despite the look he was getting. Kai was just about to argue, but Olivier got there first. Bless the French.

"I'm shocked to say, but Takao does have a point," the youth commented from the doorway. "We've got nothing to lose."

"Fine," Kai agreed sourly. "But they've better be good."

"Of course they are," Takao spoke confidentially, before quickly leaving the room deeply hoping that he hadn't misjudged Max and… Rei was it? Anyway, if he did make a mistake, there would be hell to pay. He would be wasting some of their precious time. And time was something that Kai wasn't glad to waste in any circumstances.


	4. Tricks and Flips

Summary: AU. Rei had always known about Max's dream to join a circus, he just never expected to be dragged along. Part of KaRe wave.

Pairings: KaiRei, BorisYuriy, maybe others.

Warnings: Alternative universe. Shounen-ai, slash, or whatever you want to call it.

Disclaimer: I still don't own the series.

* * *

Behind the Curtain

Chapter Four: Tricks and Flips

_By: Little Myy_

It had to be the worst week of Kai's life. Like running a circus wasn't hard enough, add the most problematic people imaginable to the mix it was hell. Then he had gotten the letter from his grandfather, which had done nothing to ease the crappy week. Sometimes he felt that if there was a greater power, it was seriously mad at him.

Sighing Kai glanced at the small painkiller that innocently sat on his kitchen counter. As much as he hated to take any medicine he couldn't work with the annoying headache that had consumed his skull. Sleeping had only so much subdued it and there was so much to be done only thinking about it would make a weaker person miserable. The only thing that actually did depress him about today was the fact that he had agreed to Takao's stupid idea of an audition. He had enough to worry as it were, it would be waste of time. Even if they miraculously were good enough to join, the last thing they needed was two newbies slowing them down. Kai really didn't know what had he thought when agreeing. Now all he could do about the situation was to go and see, then apologize and send them home. Time wasted, but at least he didn't have to hear Takao nagging how he backed out from a deal. Besides, Hiwataris never backed away. That was something that had been drummed into his head.

Speaking of which, the knocking on his door was making his headache worse. Taking the pill with rest of his coffee, Kai went to open the door.

"Well don't you look just perky," Boris greeted him enjoying too much of Kai's bad mood.

"And you're just plain annoying," the younger Russian greeted back.

"You should've seen Chen this morning," the other continued, making his way past Kai and into the kitchen. "Only after that you have the right to call me annoying."

"Which one?"

"You pick," Boris shrugged getting a mug from the cupboard and pouring the quite fresh coffee in it. "They're not too happy about my trust in Yuriy."

"Would you be in their position?" Kai asked offhandedly.

"My, my. You? Considering others feelings?" Boris sneered. "You must be feeling even worse than I thought. Anyway, I was just coming to inform you that Takao is climbing up the walls. You should probably go and meet the guys he wanted you to meet."

Kai glanced at his watch noticing that it was getting close to eleven. Takao would soon be banging the door if he didn't leave soon.

"This is waste of time," he muttered moving to the hallway to get his shoes and jacket on.

"Well, you never know what you might stumble upon," Boris, who had followed him, smirked.

Kai looked up from his shoelaces. "Don't be so optimistic, just because you happened to find a pet while wandering around."

He couldn't help but to feel immediate satisfaction as Boris glared daggers at him. Smirking back at his friend, Kai stood up straight and left the apartment.

Kai made his way down the street towards on of the houses he they had rented while staying. He always found it easier just to rent couple of residences, where everyone could live while in town. Sometimes they would be staying for months and it was always nicer to actually have a house instead of trailers or motel rooms or something as uncomfortable as that. The only problem with them was that the conflicts that were caused by seeing each other all the time. That's also why Kai preferred, if anyway possible, to get himself his own place. He couldn't get any work done with all the things going on in the houses. Of course, sometimes it was simply impossible.

Luckily this was not one of those times, and he had a small apartment not too far from the houses the others were staying in. As he finally reached the right street, he noticed the blue haired clown already waiting him on the yard. Takao also had seen Kai as he bounced to the street to greet him.

"Thanks again for giving them a chance," Takao simply stated as they walked to a bus stop, so they could get a ride to the hall. It didn't take long for the bus to arrive, for which Kai was thankful for. He really wasn't in a mood for Takao's excited mood. Taking an easy way out, he just simply decided to ignore his company.

They arrived to the arena early and Kai was surprised to see two persons waiting for them at the back door. Obviously they were the same ones Takao had spoken, as they greeted the blue haired performer with a wave. Takao even received a hug from the blond.

While the Takao of them exchanged greeting Kai studied the new duo. Both were somewhere in their late teens, he would guess. The first one indeed had bright blond kind of messy hair, and was so energetic that even if Kai didn't have a headache, spending time with him would give him one. And like his lively attitude wasn't enough he was dressed in blinding colours.

Then there was the other one; slightly taller than the blond, dressed much more suitable for Kai's taste. Black and red was much more pleasant for his eyes than bright green. The person had long black hair that was braided to stay out of the way, and intriguing catlike eyes. Of course the cat likeness wasn't that unusual, but there was something that held him captivated. Realising that he was being stupid, he turned his gaze away, and started walking towards the back door.

He could feel eyes on him, as he moved to open the door, and from the exchange between Takao and the blond, Kai was sure it was neither of them. He didn't wait to see if the others followed, as he went inside. He could hear the chatter continuing as they moved further through the hallways and finally to the stage.

He walked to the edge of the stage before turning around.

"So Takao says you want to join our little crew," Kai spoke keeping his voice bored. "My name is Hiwatari Kai and the head of this circus, so if you really want to join, you need to convince me."

He was actually feeling a bit curious what the two of them could do, but he wouldn't let them know it. The blond had taken a trick bike with him, which could be a good sign.

"Thank you so much for this opportunity," the blond spoke. "You don't know how much this means to us."

Actually Kai couldn't be really bothered if this was a good deed or not, most likely just waste of everyone's time. He gave the blond indifferent look, which seemed to annoy the taller one, more than the blond. Quite interesting reaction. On the other hand the ebony-haired one didn't seem too happy to be there in the first place.

Kai stepped down from the stage and sat down to one of the seats in the first row. Takao gave the duo thumbs up, before joining Kai in the audience. The blond gave a firm nod and introduced himself as Mizuhara Max. Then he went to take his place at the edge of the stage where he mounted his bike and started his performance.

Kai watched as the blond made his tricks evaluating his skills. He hated to almost agree with Takao. The boy was good. There was a slip here and there, but that happened to the best of them. Overall the performance was quite entertaining, and Max actually had the skill, and the eagerness. It looked like the blond had the time of his life performing. Then there was actually the thought of having a bike number on a show, it would be different from their usual things, and a new performance was always a bonus. Takao had also mentioned that the boy could juggle, not the hardest thing, but the more he could do, the better.

"What else can you do?" he asked, seemingly uninterested. He felt like he was part of some weird, bad, tv-show.

"Well, I go to a circus school of sorts, so I have tried bit of everything. But bikes are my specialty. As well as probably juggling and diabolos and that kind of stuff."

Glancing at his watch, Kai came to the conclusion that he didn't really have the time to watch if the blond's words were true. Maybe later, but he should check the other one out, before deciding anything further.

"So what can you do?" Kai asked turning towards the ebony-haired one, who had moved to sit in the audience as well.

"Me?" was the puzzled reply.

"Yes you," Kai said back.

"I'm not really…"

"If you don't want to perform, that's fine with me," Kai cut in rudely, while standing up. He kept his gaze locked in the yellow eyes while speaking. "I do have better things to do than waste my time with this."

He saw something – probably anger – flare in the cat like eyes, as the Max's friend stood up. Without saying a word, the dark-haired teen determinately marched onto the stage and after a deep calming breath the demonstration started.

Kai had been working with in the circus for years and at some point the things that amaze him had decreased close to none. However watching the performance, Kai found himself almost mesmerized with the grace that everything was done with. It seemed so natural how every move was made. He didn't even notice if there were any slips done, which was quite rare of him. Finally as the acrobat finished, it took a second for Kai to decide what to do next. While there was the problem with getting new people to adjust into their schedules and lives, there would be great benefit for having the duo in their next show. Then there always was the age thing. Neither of them looked like they were majors yet, so they needed their parents' agreement. And who would want to send their children away with a circus in the middle of a school year.

"There is couple of thing we need to get straight," Kai spoke at last. "If you're going to join us, you need your parent's approval for this, as neither of you seem to be over eighteen yet, am I right."

He received three shocked looks and two stunned nods. Apparently even Takao hadn't been sure about their skills after all.

"Secondly there will be a trial period of three months. We will have a new program by then and after the shows are over we can discuss things further."

There was a long silence, before a happy scream was heard from Max, who had jumped to hug his friend. The acrobat on the other hand was still too stunned to do anything.

"Takao," Kai turned to the blue-haired youth next to him. "You know what to do."

Takao smiled brightly and gave him a nod, before joining the duo on stage urging them to follow him back stage.

"Oh, and you!" Kai called after the trio, making them stop. Takao nudged the black-haired teen as if to clear who Kai had meant.

"Yes?" the teen asked.

"What's your name?"

"Kon Rei."

Kai gave him a nod and the trio turned to leave again. Noticing that his headache was gone, Kai couldn't help but think that maybe the week wasn't that bad after all.


End file.
